Empire WatchAnalysis of current world affairs with focus on gloabal struggle for social and economic justice and against racism, war, imperialism and oppression much of it brought on by US Empire and its allies

5 Myths About Iran Sanctions

There is much confusion and misunderstanding about the Iran sanctions perpetuated by the US and its allies through lies and misinformation. The US corporate media has been especially instrumental in manufacturing and spreading these myths. The following are 5 most commonly believed of such myths:

1.The biggest myth about this is that the sanctions are imposed to force the regime to stop uranium enrichment and thus avoid military attack. The implication is, of course, that either Iran will stop enriching as a result of the punishing pressure of the sanctions or they will be attacked. So, by imposing sanctions, they really are giving a last chance to the regime before they’re attacked. In other words, they’re showing compassion by making the attack unnecessary through the more compassionate sanctions, provided the regime relents and stops enrichment. That is just not true. They are not imposing sanctions to make the attack unnecessary. They’re imposing sanctions to make the attack and the ultimate objective of regime change easier to achieve. The attack will be forthcoming after the sanctions have had time to cripple the country. In other words, sanctions are not a replacement of, but the precursor for a military attack.

2. The second false claim the US is making is that imposing sanctions is the only way to dissuade Israel from attacking the country. The implication is, of course, that Israel decides on its own whether to attack or not. That is also a lie concocted to play good cop/bad cop and give American people the impression that their government means well: they impose sanctions which are not so bad to prevent the Israelis from attacking militarily. The truth is Israel will not and cannot attack without the green light from Washington and when they do, it’ll be because Washington decided it’s time to do it. By the same token, if they haven’t attacked yet, it’s because the US didn’t think it was time, yet.

3. What is also not true is that Israel feels threatened by Iran’s uranium enrichment with the implication that they will be justified in attacking Iran to stop the enrichment. As I explained in my last piece, that is a fake and made up fear. The truth is that Israel will attack when and if it’s told to attack and will do so not out of fear of being annihilated by Iranian nuclear weapons – they know Iran will never attack them with or without nukes since that would clearly be suicidal – but because they will be told to attack. After all, they must earn the continued and unconditional US support.

4. The insinuation that if the sanctions work – meaning the regime changes its mind and stops enrichment – there won’t be an attack, is also not true. If they want regime change, which they do, and if sanctions cause economic hardship and turmoil and weaken the country, which they do and which would get them closer to their goal, why would they stop there? Would it not make sense for them to go on and finish the job of regime change that they have been after all along? The problem with many liberals and even progressives is that they assume good intentions on the part of colonial and imperial powers of North America and Europe. Anyone through the history who has, has in the end regretted it, starting from American Indians to Africans, Latin Americans and Asians. The plan for regime change begins a long time before its fruition and once on the path, they move forward with it. Sanctions are the first step.

5. It’s also not true that sanctions are an effective way of forcing the government to do what they want them to do. The truth is sanctions are collective punishment and more than anything, hurt ordinary people, especially the most vulnerable such as children. Again, we have the example of unfortunate Iraqi people to go by. According to a UN estimate, Iraqi sanctions caused the death of half a million c

hildren. Is that any better than bombing? People are already dying in Iran due to lack of medicine that were formerly imported from Europe. Neither sanctions and embargoes, nor military attacks are acceptable. They both are violent acts of terror and crimes against humanity and neither one should ever be defended, justified or made excuses for by anyone regardless of the excuse fed to us by corporate leaders and their media. It’s time to break free of colonial mindset and brainwashing.